ne else, a set of clinical lectures on the morbid
anatomy of his own inner man, under the appropriate title of '_Weeds_
from Life's Sea-shore;' forgetting that sea-weeds must be very rare and
delicate indeed to be worth preserving in a _hortus siccus_, instead of
being usefully covered out of sight in the nearest earth-heap, there to
turn into manure. He is, however, more objective than most of his
self-exenterating compeers; but he wants the grace and cheerful
lightness of the American school. A large part of his volume is taken up
with 'Maia, a masque'--an imitation of Milton's manner, but not, alas!
of his melody and polish; as, for instance:--

"'Not a warbler wakes his lay,
Not a dewdrop pearls the spray,
Not a fleecy cloud-rack sails
'Fore the warm-breath'd summer gales,
Shedding blessings on the earth,
But heavenward points its primal birth.

"Hark! the green-sedg'd chiming rill,
Weeding down yon cot-crown'd hill,
The torrent's dash, the river's gush,
The mighty wind-resounding crush
Of the fallen monarch of the wood,
Re-echo'd by the distant flood.

"However, this masque is readable enough, though Flora and Zephyrus,
Oberon and Titania, not much wanted anywhere in the nineteenth century,
seem oddly out of place amid 'whippoor-wills,' and 'mockbirds,' and
other Yankee nationalities, pleasing and natural as they are in
themselves. How did they get into the Alleghanies? By liner or steamer?
In the main cabin or the steerage? And were they, were they sea-sick?
One would fear it from the unwonted huskiness of their new utterances.

"The best thing in the book is 'Semael,' though the plot is neither very
apparent nor very novel, the imagery as trite as need be, the blank
verse heavy and monotonous, without breaks, grouping, or relief, and the
accents as often as not on the prepositions:--

"'_The_ felucca there
With lateen-sail, seen _in_ th' horizon-skirt
Shaping its course t'ward _the_ Egyptian shore,

"(Which Egyptian shore?)

"Gives _to_ the moon the silv'ry foam, which breaks

"(Could it give the foam _from_ the moon?)

"'Gainst _the_ sharp keel, and tracks the wave with light.
While just beneath him bounds the lighter skiff
With bird-like speed; and darting _to_ the shore,
Lowers _its_ white sail,

"(Not another bark's, mind!)

and moors its painted prow

"(Oh, schoolboy's phrase!)

"Close _to_ the cliff. Di